


Be Somebody

by theKristastrophe



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Canon Related, F/F, F/M, M/M, OC Foxes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-05-15 06:38:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14785397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theKristastrophe/pseuds/theKristastrophe
Summary: All she wanted to do is play Exy and maybe actually become more than a number. She didn't sign up for all this drama.Come along as we head back to Palmetto and catch up with everyone's favorite Foxes, five new freshmen, and a Coach who "doesn't get paid enough this shit."





	1. Finals Like an Exy Racquet to the Gut

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! "Be Somebody" is going to be going under a heavy edit this weekend. There are things I have been wanting to clean up and condense for a while now but haven't had the time or motivation. Big up to Ceceliajupe/ souper-doup for giving me the kick in the butt I needed to get started fixing this!

“Holy fuck. He's so much taller in person.” Nova gasps, breathlessly as her eyes lock on Class 1 Exy star Kevin Day. 

__

She briefly wonders about Jean Moreau and Jeremy Knox, both known for being even taller than Kevin, before shaking her head to get it out of the clouds. Her exhausted, mess of a mind goes absolutely silent when she clocks who exactly she's looking at.

 

 Kevin fucking Day is standing 60 feet from her. Kevin Day just watched her tiny team play and win state finals! Her breathing falters when the realization hits that Kevin Day is never seen without Neil Josten and Andrew Minyard. 

 

She swipes her sweaty bangs out her face to get a better look across the court. Sure enough Andrew Minyard is looking bored to his right as Neil Josten talks with one of the assistant coaches on his left. 

 

Her coach takes a moment to excuse herself and moves to Nova's side. 

 

“Good work captain.”

 

“Thank you Coach.” 

 

Coach Alex beams at her, ruffling her disgusting hair. Her face scrunches up slightly in disgust as she wipes her hand on her pants. 

 

“Don't thank me yet. You're on media duty and need to greet our guests.” 

 

“Coach!” Nova whines, “I'm all sweaty.” 

 

“I don't care. They won't care. Now, march.” Coach grabs her by the collar as she tries to dart away. Nova makes a show of resisting but ultimately straightens up to meet their guests. 

 

“Nova Darwin. Meet Kevin Day, Neil Josten, and Andrew Minyard from Palmetto State.” 

 

Nova narrows her eyes at her coach. Like she hasn't heard the team argue over the Fox roster and improbable championship run throughout the season. Nova knows exactly who these guys are and Coach is gleefully enjoying her starstruck silence. 

 

Tearing her gaze from her coach’s amused expression; Nova forces the biggest smile on her face, the one the agency calls the adopt me smile, and reaches out to shake their hands. 

 

“ Great to meet you. Congrats on your Championship last month.” Nova says, genuinely.

 

The entire team had watched it together and celebrated, much like the rest of the Exy community, when the Foxes won. There was something just...off about the Ravens and she was happy to have seen them lose. Plus Josten and Day were on fire. When Day switched hands…..the noise that came out of her mouth was distinctly not human. 

 

“We should be congratulating you, Captain.” Kevin tells her, pulling her head out of the clouds. “Fantastic work getting your team to rally during the third quarter.”

 

Nova tries not to preen or blush. Judging by the snort from the Fox goalie, she isn't successful. 

 

“I never saw where you signed to. Where you headed in the fall?” Day asks. 

 

Nova's smile falls a bit but she forces the corners to turn back up. 

 

“I'm still working on it.” 

 

Day and Josten blink and share a look. “ You haven't been offered anything?” Josten questions.

 

Nova winces and shakes her head, wishing they would have gotten the hint and stopped driving the knife deeper into her chest. 

 

“Interesting.” Josten muses. 

 

Minyard snorts and rolls his eyes. “250% junkie.” 

 

Josten flashes him a brilliant smile. Before Nova can comment Coach Joel appears at her side. 

 

“Time for presser, Nova.”

She groans. “Do I have too?” She whiles one more time at Coach.

 

Coach gives her a flat, unimpressed look. “March.” 

 

“Ugh. Fine.” 

 

Nova flashes the Palmetto Foxes a brilliant smile. “Thank you for coming. Best of luck on your upcoming season.” 

 

The Foxes smirk back at her and Josten waves. “Bye Nova. See you soon!” 

 

Nova wants to ask what he means but Coach Joel pulls her along and she's swept up in the ridiculous whirlwind that is a post game press conference. By the time she has a second to think, she falling into bed utterly exhausted.

 

*****************************************************

 

Winning the championship is as bittersweet as it is brilliant. They were able to prove to the world of naysayers that an overcrowded, underfunded school in the center of Philadelphia can “Fox” the championship and win. It should that the team, and the school, deserved more funding and attention.  There's even an ESPN 30 for 30 being made sometime in the next few months. 

 

She is so proud of her team for making this happen for the school. Nova, however, is at a lost on what to do next. 

 

The past three years, especially the last eight months, have been so Exy fueled that she doesn't know what to do outside of that routine. She's infuriated because even after the championship she hasn't had any offers to continue her career in Exy. She's been left floundering, scheduling multiple meetings with her college counselor to go over her options.  

 

She's just came from another frustrating meeting that required going over another rejection letter. She had stalked out of the meeting early, needing Exy like the fresh air. 

 

She bounces the ball off the far court wall, focusing on the rhythm rather than her panic. 

 

Da-Dum. Da-Dum. Da-Dum. Da-Dum. 

  
  


_ “ The schools Ms.Connors pointed out have good programs.  Got waitlisted at Drexel. Could go there in the spring.Cabrini is nice too but doesn't have Exy either.”  _ Nova mutters under breath as she moves over to shooting drills. 

 

Her thoughts swirl as she argues with herself over which school to actively look at.

 

“I JUST FUCKING WANTED TO PLAY EXY.” Nova screams at the rafters, hurling the ball in the net. The wall lighting up red isn't as satisfying as she had hoped. Shaking with panic and rage, Nova empties two large ball buckets into the net. 

 

A slow clap behind her breaks the rage haze. Nova spins, seeing Coach. Nova winces, taking a look at the mess of balls and cones scattered around the court. She opens her mouth to apologize but the older woman cuts her off.

 

“I was wondering when the control on your temper would break.” Coach says with a shrug. “Ms. Connors told me about the session and I figured you'd be here.” 

 

Coach looks around and whistles low. “Judging by the mess, it was quite the show.” 

 

Nova flushes. “I'll clean up.” 

 

Coach snorts. “We’ll worry about it later. Play catch with me.” 

 

Nova arches an eyebrow at the heels and button up. Coach rolls her eyes, kicking off her heels and shedding the button up revealing an old Penn State Exy shirt. Her alma mater. 

 

Something settles in Nova's chest seeing the familiar dark blue. She's thrown back to the first time she ever met Coach. 

 

The team had been officially announced and more than 80 kids had come to tryouts. Nothing much about the coach was said besides they played Class 1 and a St. Mary’s alumni. Then a tiny ball of fire, dressed like she just left the Parisian runway, stepped onto the packed court. She immediately started dismissing people, walking through the incredulous stares of 80 high school students. 

 

“Who are you? Where's the coach?” Some senior had asked rather rudely. 

 

“I am.” 

 

The senior and his buddies laughed. Before sobering. “Seriously?”

 

The tiny woman nodded. “May I?” Holding her hand out for his large, heavy style racquet casually cradling a ball. He placed the racquet in her hands as her large designer purse dropped to the floor. 

 

“Rule number one. Never underestimate your opponent.” She whipped the racquet around so fast around her small frame it looked like a white blur. 

 

Then she stopped, turned on her painfully high heels and buried it in the top corner pocket of the goal. As she spun back she took out the senior’s knees. Making him crumple to the ground.  

 

“Rule number two.” She told the crowd 

“Never,ever take your eye off your opponent” 

 

In that moment, Nova knew she wanted nothing more than to play for this terrifying woman.

  
  


A ball to the end of her stick yanks her out of memory lane. Coach arches an eyebrow. 

 

“You gonna pay attention?” 

 

“Sorry Coach.” Nova collects the ball and lobs it over to the other woman. She lets herself into the calming repetition of catch, twist, throw. 

 

“Do you know why I made you choose between racing and this?” Coach asked after a time. 

 

“It was liability.” 

 

Coach snorts. “Well no shit. But that wasn't the real reason.” 

 

Nova blinks. 

 

Coach sighs. “ I knew from the first five minutes of you on the court that you were going to be special. I made you choose because refused to watch you destroy yourself before you even had a chance. I took the gamble you wouldn't quit racing but thankfully you let me win that bet.” 

 

Nova thinks about all the weekends she had spent at the other woman's place. Falling asleep on the couch watching her old, college tapes. Or the week nights she would “run away” from the group home because it was so fucking loud and thebooder kids wanted her to go race with them.

 

“Was the gamble worth it?” 

 

There's a pain flashes briefly across her face but it disappears quickly. “You were absolutely worth it Nova Darwin.” 

 

Nova nods, unable to say anything even as the woman who gave her a shot at a better life folds her into a hug. 

 

“Feeling better?” Coach asked as she pulls back. Nova nods. 

 

“Good.” She checks her watch. “Get this shit and yourself cleaned up. We have somewhere to be.” 

 

“Where?” 

 

“Just because the season is over and you won some fancy championship, doesn't mean you can ask questions.” 

 

Nova grins. Grateful for the return of Coach's no nonsense attitude. 

 

She rolls her eyes. “Whatever Coach.” 

 

Nova darts away from the half assed swipe to her head. As she jogs away, she turns back towards Coach. 

 

“Thank you for everything.” 

 

Nova misses the proud, fond smile the coach has as she watches her clean up. 

******************************************************

 

After quickly cleaning up the court and running through the shower. She was too damn tired to even think about putting back on her uniform skirt and polo let alone deal with a bra, so she pulls out her favorite pair of black leggings and a Palmetto tank top that the team had gotten her as a senior gift. Hair stuffed into a messy bun and Birkenstocks completes whatever look she is going for. 

 

 When she reaches Coach’s car, the woman snorts in amusement. Nova arches a brow but she's waved off. 

 

“Get in the car.” 

 

After a little jostling, Nova managed to fit her  5’11 frame into Coach's tiny Fiat. When she grouses about the lack of space, her ear was flicked for her troubles.

 

It's quiet in the car, the radio creating some white noise but it's comfortable. Neither woman feels the need to fill the silence with pointless chatter. 

 

On the way over, Nova thinks about the last few years and everything it took to get to where she is now. It hadn't been easy giving up her habits but the thrill of outmaneuvering a backliner and lighting up the goal was enough of a thrill to make her happy. For the past two seasons, Nova has given Coach her game and taken everything she would give her from her time at Penn State and the US Court. Every harsh workout, extra set of weights, suicide drill, and goal scored made sure Nova stayed on the, somewhat, right side of the tracks.

 

And if she even wanted to see the court, she had to conduct herself to Coach's standards off the court too. That meant cleaning up her grades and her act in the classroom. It helped that joining the Exy team was like joining a crazy family. Most of her free time was spent either spent goofing off, studying for classes, or analysing their games and it was all done with the the team. 

 

As a result her game became greater, her grades better, and her behavior was actually complemented by the dean. But without a plan for the future, it feels like it was all for nothing. 

 

Before she's really ready, Coach had pulls into a small coffee shop's parking lot. She flashes Nova the biggest grin.

 

“What?” she starts to ask but the other woman is already out of the car, heading towards the door.  Nova scrambles to keep up, using her long legs to catch up quickly.

 

“Trust me.” Alex tells her, flicking a look at her tank top. “You'll love this.” 

 

Nova highly doubts that unless Coach magically managed to fix the issues regarding the future but Nova is willing to humor her. She follows as Coach leads her to the back of the shop where a man sits at the table fiddling with a pack of sugar. When he lifts his head, Nova chokes. She's about to be face to face with a smiling David Wymack. Head Coach of the Palmetto State Foxes the 2013 Class 1 Exy Champions.

 

His smile at their approach turns into a smirk at the sight of her shirt.

 

“Shit. Of all days to wear her senior gift.” She mutters under her breath. Coach snorts nudging her a little.  She crosses her arms and his smirk deepens. 

 

They settle into the booth and place an order. Black coffees for the coaches and a pot of green tea for Nova so maybe her heart can chill the fuck out.When their drinks arrive as well as three steaming slices of buttered zucchini bread, on the house because everyone is in love with Coach, David Wymack cuts to the chase. 

 

“What are you plans for the fall Nova?”

 

Her heart skips a beat. There's very few reasons that he would ask that. She swallows and tries to keep her voice from failing her.

 

“Um. Nothing crazy.” 

 

The man nods. “Anything Exy related?” 

 

Nova ducks her head behind her tea, desperately trying to breathe. Damn him for bringing up her panic when she just started to to get her muscles to relax. 

 

“No sir.” She mutters into her drink, forcing her hands to unclench from around the cup.

 

“No one was interested investing in a ward of the state this season. We aren't known for being good choices.” 

 

Nova stills. Just remembering that Andrew Minyard, Exy best goalie, was once a ward off the state too. She bites her lip, waiting for the Fox coach to explode on her but he just hums thoughtfully.

 

“You know, both Kevin and Neil spoke very highly of you.” 

 

Nova feels her eyes widen. “Really?” She whispers. 

 

Coach Wymack hums in agreement. Taking a sip of the coffee, he pushes a large manila envelope towards her.

 

Nova's eyes widen further , snapping to his face. He has a large grin on his face. She looks over at Coach Alex who is also grinning. 

 

“Nova Darwin.” He starts as she pulls out the packed in the manila envelope.  “There's a place for you with us.” 

 

Inside is a contract for a full ride with the Foxes. 

 

“Seriously?” She asks. Her heart is racing as she searches his face for any hint of a lie. There is none. She looks at Alex who nods with suspiciously misty eyes. 

 

She looks down and flips through the contract. 

 

Five years of playtime under condition she doesn't get offers after her regular four. Full scholarship that includes room and books. She can study whatever she wants as long as she keeps a 2.9 GPA. 

 

Nova wills herself not to cry. 

 

She reorganizes the entire package and nods at the coaches across from her. 

 

“The state isn't going to like that I'm leaving before I turn eighteen.” 

 

“They actually can't say anything.” Coach says, pushing another envelope towards her. Nova stares at her as she flicks it open. 

 

Under the beige paper is a thick packet containing official adoption papers. 

 

“All you have to do is sign.” 

 

“Don't want to be a burden.” 

 

Coach shakes her head. “You've been my kid in all but name for the past three years. It's time to make it official.” 

 

Nova stifles a sob and throws her arms around the woman. 

 

“You're going to have to call me Alex now since you have a new coach and all.” Alex whispers into her hair. Nova giggles wetly. 

 

She pulls back and wipes her eyes. She reaches out for the pen and signs the adoption papers and scholarship contract without pausing. 

 

Nova grins for the camera like she hadn't gone through the most fifteen minutes of her life and came out with a completely different life. She watches as Alex signs a few lines as well. 

 

Once the contract is safe in her new coach’s hands, Nova can't help herself. “So….when do I start?” 

********************************************

 

The next three weeks are hell. They had finish up the adoption papers work and petition the state. This could normally take months but Alex had a friend in the family court office and was able to get it through in two weeks. Nova also had to file a report on the conditions of the group home, not that it would do any good.The other kids who have grown out had also filed reports and nothing ever happened. She didn't expect her report to change anything. 

 

Between Exy practices, court appearances, and shopping for her first year at school the two weeks passed like sand through her fingers. 

 

Quick and unstoppable. 

 

The last night before she left for Palmetto, Alex surprised her with the newest racquet on the market and Nova's favorite dinner. 

 

“What are you going to do next season?” Nova asks her as they dig into homemade lasagna.

 

_ It's still so weird not calling her Coach.  _ She thinks briefly as she waits.

 

Alex hums. “Well Joel is taking over.” 

 

Nova's eyes snap up. “What? Why?!” 

 

Alex chuckles. “Relax. It's not for long. The US Court is playing some friendlies over the next few months and I have to go. Obviously. Joel will be fine and I'll be back in early October.” 

 

Nova thinks that over. Technically Alex would only miss two regular season games and both of them unnecessary to win the season. Still she isn't happy leaving her old team with Coach Joel. He's a good guy but doesn't have the technical knowledge to elevate each person's game. Plus he doesn't strike fear and awe in the freshmen the way Alex does.

 

Nova tells her as much and gets laughed at. 

 

“Wait till your first week with the Foxes and Kevin Day. You'll be wishing for my soft approach.” Alex promises her as they flop on her couch with bowls of ice cream, flipping on the latest episode of Great British Baking Show. 

 

They are in their second episode when Alex turns to her. “You call me whenever for whatever. I want to hear how all about Palmetto even when I'm out to Court.” 

 

 “I will. I promise” 

 

“Good.” Alex nods and suddenly finds herself being hugged to death by a giant. 

 

“Thank you.” Nova tells her as she pulls away. 

 

Alex winks and then resumes the show. They settle in for the last family night before the season. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed the new dialogue. I'm getting much better at formatting it. I really wanted to flesh out Alex's relationship to Nova earlier than I did last time. 
> 
> Coach Alex Rodriguez was the pioneer of her time. She is a first generation Mexican-American. Born to immigrant parents Estella and Jorge. She grew up in the dessert of Las Vegas. Her parents would leave her with her aunt during the night while they worked on the strip. One night when Alex was 10 and couldn't sleep, her aunt let her watch the sports channel thinking it would bore her to sleep. That was the night the first ever Exy championship was played and aired. Alex was hooked. 
> 
> She learned to play by watching reruns. She sent a tape of herself performing drills with a racquet that was way too short for her ( she had gotten it for her 11th birthday) to every college with an Exy program. Penn State was the only one to get back to her. 
> 
> She is the first Mexican-American to have played and captained college Exy. She's also the first to play for the US Court. She's a is time gold medalist, three time winner of the International Sportsmanship Award, and the fifth highest scorer in the world. 
> 
> ( I took a little liberty in the age of Exy.) 
> 
> is going to be 35. Its her tenth year on the US Court and she's considering retirement after Nova graduates college butont tell Nova that!


	2. July

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...

Palmetto is gorgeous. Sprawling hills, Grecian architecture, a lake, and an orchard that apparently yields the best apples according to Coach Wymack. She's taken to following the path through the orchard on her early morning runs. The sweet smell of growing apples and cut grass quickly becoming her favorite scent. 

 

That all paled in comparison the first time Nova saw the court. It's towers over campus like a warrior ready to defend its border, the pawprints are warpaint earned with honor. It's ridiculously bright orange and white felt right as she laid dead center and soaked it all in. 

 

Then Wymack had shown her her new locker and jersey. The thirteen in pristine white under the  “Darwin” punched the breath out of her. He had smiled kindly and ruffled her hair, leaving her to change out and head to the inner court. He let her run practice, gleefully shooting at the net, for about an hour. Then he kicks her out to go find what he called the “Monsters.” 

 

Turns out the “Monsters” were Kevin, Neil, and Andrew and they had disappeared for the entire weekend. Thankfully, Alex got her a book on Kayleigh Day and all of her notes from the beginning days of Exy. 

 

Between her book, the tapes of her old team, and the calls to Alex who is currently in Kansas City training with the Court; the potentially lonely weekend flew by.

 

That was all six weeks ago. 

 

Now, Nova ia humming to herself as she quietly let's herself into Andrew, Neil, and Kevin's suite; on a mission to steal the Coco Puffs she knows Andrew keeps around to piss Kevin off. 

 

She's reaching to the top shelf of the cabinet and doesn't even flinch when a sharp, six inch long knife buried itself in the blood five inches from her hand. 

 

“You missed asshole.” She tells him, plucking the cerea and knifel from the shelf. 

 

She's gotten so used to them that it doesn't even bother her  when Andrew snarls at her when she drops the blade into his extra sugary Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Nova yawns, dumping herself into the open chair at the table. Pouring herself a bowl of stolen cereal and a coffee. 

 

She's about half way through her breakfast, scrolling through this Exy website when she realizes it's Saturday. 

 

She blinks and looks up and blinks again. Yet, they're still there.

 

Neil is playing with Kevin's hair while he mindlessly shovels some egg thing into his mouth. Nova isn't even sure he's fully awake yet. She looks left and meets Andrew’s apathetic, slightly murderous stare head on. 

 

It's been six weeks. She's used to the combination of apathetic murder face and the knives first thing in the morning. She still has to get used to Kevin's scathing critiques but that because he's the very standard she set for herself. 

 

She shakes herself out of her musings. It's to early on a Saturday to be darkening her mood. Also. Saturday. 

 

Turning her gaze back to Neil since she's more likely to get an answer from him rather than the other two. 

 

“Why are y'all still here?” 

 

It's pretty common knowledge that they fuck off and leave her bored and alone on campus during the weekends. She doesn't hate them too much for it, it's given her a chance to do her summer reading and practice until her arms feel like they are going to fall off. Plus she got head start on the course material. 

 

But still…. 

 

They are never here on Saturdays. 

 

Neil shrugs. “The Foxes come back today.” 

 

Nova freezes, spoon hovering over her second bowl. “What?” 

 

“The rest of them move back today.” Andrew explains in a slow, bored drawl. 

 

Nova nods. “Right. Ok.” She smoothes a hand over her wild bedhead. 

 

“Fuck, Im not ready.” She whispers, more to herself than anyone else. Her mind starts to race at all the talent she's seen on all the old game tapes and being able to play with them all. 

 

Kevin decides that's the time to wake up. He snorts derisively. “You're in much better shape than any of them. You'll be fine.” 

 

Nova positively beams, that's the nicest he's been to her since she got to campus. Andrew snorts. “Junkies. All of you.” 

 

Kevin and Neil preen happily while Nova's let's out a confused “thank you?” Andrew flips her the bird and snatches her mostly empty bowl, wandering off to the kitchen. 

 

“You'll be completely fine.” Neil reassures her. Tugging one of her bright red, wild curls. She bends at the waist and places her head on his shoulder. 

 

The past six weeks haven't been easy. 

 

Being in South Carolina and away from everyone and everything she knows has triggered anxiety she tries so hard to keep under control. Even calls with Alex haven't been able to solve the itchy panic buzzing under her skin. 

 

  It came to head about two weeks in at one of their practices. Kevin had been riding her all day and she just felt the snap. One minute she was cool, listening to him rip apart her game. The next she's sitting on her ass,  leaning up against the court wall, babbling apologises for not being good enough. Pleading with them not to send her away.

 

It took the combined effort of Neil dumping ice water over her head and Andrew, of all people, coaching her through a breathing cycle to get her to calm the fuck down.

 

From there it got slightly better. Kevin didn't exactly lay off but he was slightly kinder. 

 

After that embarrassing practice, they started to keep her company. Sometimes inviting her to hang out or go places. Her favorite thing to do was ride in the backseat of the Maserati and listen to her playlist as the wind ripples through her hair

 

About two trips to the grocery store later, Neil discovered that she was touch starved as Kevin and always wanted to be up against someone. He would allow it most of the time but there were days that he just couldn't handle being touched. So he started to shove her and Kevin together on the couch to watch whatever game was on when he couldn't handle their clinginess anymore. 

 

Neil shoves her away from his shoulder and dumps them both beside Kevin on the couch. He settles into Kevin's lap, while Nova wiggles her toes under Kevin's thigh. She's distracted by a replay of a Trojan-Ravens game. 

 

“Wait. Wait. Go back.” She says, scrambling for the remote after watching a younger Jean Moreau pull some footwork that should have been impossible due to his size and speed.

 

She rolls the tape back and zooms in, cutting the play time in half. She watches his feet, trying to have it make sense. 

 

“There's no way he didn't have a broken ankle after that.* She whispers to herself. 

 

“He did. Expect it was before that. Riko broke it the night before.” Kevin grinds out, eyes trained on the screen. He’s rubbing circles  on Neil's thigh as he visibly fights to stay out of his memories. 

 

Nova hums. Moving the tape back to its original position. It's quiet until the Ravens score again. 

 

“ Some of my foster siblings were obsessed with him.” They all slide their gaze between her and the screen as Riko laughs at something another Raven said. 

 

“Judging by where they all are now. It's not that much of a surprise. Good fucking riddance.” 

 

She flips the channel, ignoring Kevin's indignant squawk and puts on the beginning of Lindsay Lohan's  _ the Parent Trap _ . 

 

It was one of few movies they had at one of her foster homes and she watched it constantly. If Andrew gets up from smoking his cigarette to make popcorn and kick her off the couch well that's the price she's willing to pay. 

******************************************************

 

The veteran Foxes start popping up in the early afternoon. Nova, fresh from another fun round of training with Kevin and Neil, is reading  _ The song of Achilles  _ when there is a shriek that comes from the hall. She puts a “exy is sexy” book mark, that Neil got for her after watching Andrew scowl at her for dog earring the pages, in her spot and moves to investigate

 

A man about the same height as herself with caramel skin, bright green eyes, wild dark curls, and a huge smile is jumping up and down. 

 

Talking a mile a minute. 

 

_ Nicky Hemmick. Number 8. 5’11 Backliner. Fast but pushed off the ball. Endless energy. Good but won't make Court.  _ Her brain supplies automatically. 

 

She stays back and watches as he flits around, talking loudly about his vacation in Germany. After six weeks of quiet, Nicky's hyper intensity is overwhelming. She backs away to her room and let's the guys handle this one on their own.

  
  


About an hour later there is another shriek, silence, and then several thumps. Nova sighs and wanders back out into the hall. 

 

There's four people this time. 

 

_ Matt Boyd. Danielle Wilds. Allison Reynolds. Renee Walker.  _

 

She watches as Neil is being released from a double hug from Matt and Dan. He sends her a look over their shoulders. Allison follows the look and narrows her eyes. 

 

“Which one are you?” She demands stalking over to Nova, dragging a bemused Renee behind her. 

 

Nova's eyes widen. The woman stalking towards her is gorgeous and terrifying. She briefly wonders if it's in the code for all top female Exy players to be gorgeous and terrifying. If it is, then she is definitely in the wrong sport.

 

Allison stops in front of Nova and in her heels is almost her height. Renee calmly stops as well and damn do they make a pretty picture. 

 

The room freezes and Nova cringes. “Please don't tell me I said that out loud.” 

 

There's a snort up the hall, she locks eyes with Kevin and gives him the finger. Neil snorts and turns back to his conversation with Dan, leaving her to deal with hot and scary by herself.

 

“I'm waiting.” Allison says, tapping her foot. Nova swallows and smiles.

 

“I'm Nova. I'm the one of the new strikers.” She holds out her hand. Allison looks her up and down. Lingering on the French braids she had wrangled her hair into the night before. 

 

Renee nudge her in the side when things started to get awkward. Allison takes one last sweep of her before taking her hand. 

 

“Do that for me before we start practice on Monday and maybe we can be friends.” 

 

Nova nods at the back of her head as she drags Renee back up the hall. Renee flashes her a warm smile and waves. 

 

“You're the first kit to arrive?” She jumps at the voice behind her. She spins around to face Matt Boyd with his hands up in a placating manner. 

 

“ Sorry. Dan is always yelling at me for sneaking up in her.” He rubs the back of his neck. 

 

She shrugs. 

 

They watch as the chaos and the noise grows when the other Minyard, some girl named Katelyn, Coach Wymack, and the team doctor Abby all show up.  

 

“You're pretty quiet.” Matt says. “Taking it all in?” 

 

She shrugs again. 

 

She doesn't want to say much because then he'll figure out that she's a ward of the state and nobody wanted her. He'll realize something's wrong with her and tell everyone and then Coach Wymack will have to send her back. Then she'll have to tell Alex and she won't want her anymore either. 

 

It's everything she can do to not let the anxiety take over. 

 

“So uhh. What did you do all summer with the Monsters?” He asks, somehow knowing she's spiraling. 

 

The question makes her snort incredulously. 

 

“Exy. What else?” Nova asks with a shrug, quickly flashing back to the one practice where she had gotten the better of Kevin. She managed to score on Andrew and checked Kevin into the wall, Neil's cackle echoing off the court. It had been a good day.  

 

Matt whistles low brings back to the present. “Where did they even find you?” 

 

Nova stiffens, ready to be told she needs to leave. Matt shakes his head, laughing.

 

“You must have been a dream come true for Neil and Kevin. I'll have to show you all the other cool spots besides the Court before classes start. Can't have all Exy and no play, makes for a very dull day.” 

 

Nova looks at him confused. “But Exy is fun.” 

 

The backliner laughs.  “Definitely a dream come true.” He gives her shoulder a quick squeeze. 

 

“I'll catch up with you later. Gotta help Dan with her boxes.” Another quick squeeze and then he’s bouncing over to Dan, giving her a kiss on her cheek and stealing the box out of her hand. 

 

_ Huh. _ Her brain supplies helpfully. 

 

She looks around and sees that Andrew is missing from the joyous reunion. She slips up the backstairs unnoticed and slides into the warm twilight. 

 

She sits on the pavement and tilts her head back to observe the stars. She draws out the Andromeda galaxy with her finger, letting the tension in her shoulders seep into the open air. 

 

“Why didn't they want me?” Nova asks the silent, smoking man sitting next to her. She keeps her eyes trained on the sky, mapping out Canis Major. 

 

The question sits unanswered between them until Andrew finishes his cigarette, flicking the filter over the edge. 

 

“Sometimes it's better not to be chosen.” Keeps his tone the same as always but after six weeks Nova catches the slight inflection in his tone. 

 

He's speaking from experience.  

 

She turns to face him, waiting to see if he will elaborate. He stares at her with boredom and the stands.

 

“And sometimes it's better to have chosen for yourself.” He tosses over his shoulder as he heads back down. 

 

When the door shuts, cutting off the lights she goes back to mapping the stars. 

 

Mind a million miles away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nova is names after Villanova (LETS GO) and Charles Darwin.
> 
> Matt moves like a ninja and needs a collar with a bell so he can stop scaring the bejesus out of his teammates.


	3. Summer Practice

Summer practice starts with a pathetic whine rather than a bang. It's glaringly apparent that most of the team hadn't kept up to Kevin standard levels of fitness and the man is obviously having a great time reminding them of why they should have. 

It's their second day of two a days and Nova is significantly entertained watching Kevin screech at Nicky as they run laps around the sweltering court.

“Nicky! Did you do anything while you were in Germany?!” He yells as Nicky lags behind in the laps, again. 

“I did a lot of things and not one of them was Exy.” He shouts back, sending a saucy wink over his shoulder. 

Andrew sends balls flying at his shins when he passes. Nicky trips trying to dodge them all. Nova stops and tries to help him up. 

“Leave me alone to die.”

“Drama queen.” Nova snorts, nudging the backliner side with her stick. 

“That's Kevin's title.” Allison throws over her shoulder as she speeds past. 

Nova snorts again and reaches down to drag Nicky to his feet. “Let's go Captain Gay.” 

Nicky laughs and perks up a little as they set out on a slightly slower pace than before. He chatters as they run and Nova is happy to respond when needed, zoning out.

It's weird practicing with a full team after spending most of the summer training with just three. 

Kevin, the sadist, has them practicing their stick checks. This requires an insane amount of squatting as the shuffle down the court. 

“Big ass in my jeans. Big ass in my jeans. Big ass in my jeans.” Allison mutters breathlessly. 

“Preach.” Nova whispers back with a knowing smile. Allison narrows her eyes and looks her up and down. 

“Like you need a bigger ass. You've got a Beyonce post kids back there.” 

“Flattery will get you everyone.” She tells the blonde with a saucy wink. 

Allison snorts and lines up at the top of the court. Nova can see her muttering her mantra as she sets up on the line. At the whistle she takes off down the court, letting her screaming thighs wash away any thoughts.

*****************************************************

Day four of Kevin’s Fourteen Day Hellcamp, patent pending, is when things get interesting. 

Dan and Neil, in the interest of the team not murdering Kevin on sight, take over the first practice. 

What should have been a routine practice of skill work becomes a mess of playful bickering and gossip. 

“This is why I run practice” the striker whispers darkly, glaring as Allison and Nicky chase after Matt with their water bottles. 

Nova shrugs. She's happy to be on the court in anyway. 

“Come on. We'll play one on one until Dan can get them together.” 

Nova perks up. She hasn't had a chance to play him one on one since she moved to campus at the beginning of the summer. 

There's a dismissive snort behind her. She turns to find Andrew glaring at them. Under the usual slightly malicious glare is a hint of amusement. He stands and swipes his stick. 

“First to three junkies. Whoever loses buys the ice cream.” 

Kevin opens his mouth to argue but thinks better of it. 

“Fine.” 

“Thanks Andrew.” Nova tells him, strapping on her helmet. 

The goalie rolls his eyes and stalks over to the goal.” 

“You can have first ball.” Kevin tells her. 

Nova bristles. First ball is known for being the weaker way to start in a one and one. She curls her lip behind her face guard. 

“Nah. I want defense.” 

“Suit yourself.” He smirks, striding onto the court. 

Nova rolls her eyes and cracks her neck before joining him. 

One and one rules are simple…..

Don't kill your partner.

Win. 

That's it. 

Nova settles into a defensive crouch as Kevin cradles the ball in his net and takes two jogging steps before turning up into a sprint. She stays still, counting his steps. She's watched all of his games since middle school but have focused on his games since his return. While you could never call him predictable, the striker does have a few favorite moves that he puts in everything. 

If she's right, on his eighth step he'll underhand himself the ball. This will give him a split second to dodge her and collect the ball as he sprints up the court. Defenders normally make the mistake of following Kevin and trying to check him, resulting in either missing him completely or drawing a foul. The only defender who hasn't been fooled is USC's Jean Moreau which, unsurprisingly, is where she's learned this trick from. 

On his eighth step he does exactly as she thought and flings it hard and fast at the court wall. Nova completely ignored the yelp from the rest of the team and does a 180. She reaches out and just manages to snag the ball away from him, sprinting like the devil is behind her towards half court. 

She wheels around and stops to roll her wrist and shoulders. She can feel the stares of her teammates but ignores them, locking eyes with a pissed off Kevin. She grins at him and takes her two steps before sprinting straight for him. On her fifth step she bounces the ball off the floor giving her another ten to work with, continuing her sprint. 

“Come on Day.” Nova thinks waiting for the striker's next key move. On her eighth step, he lunges. Taking a swipe at her calves, knowing this is coming Nova uses her speed to clear his stick and shoots in midair. Andrew moves impassively to stop it but the wall lights up red. 

“Andrew. What the fuck?” Kevin growls, scooping another ball from the bucket at center Court. The goalie flops him off lazily.

“Don't blame me for your slow reaction time Day.” 

Kevin snarls and sets back up. He takes four steps and takes aim at top right corner, releasing a cannon. Nova dives, narrowly missing blocking his shot with her shoulder. She can hear Dan yelling at them not to get too injured before the season starts or Abby will kill them. 

Nova rolls her eyes and takes Kevin's offered hand, getting yanked up. 

“Fuck you Andrew.” She tells the blonde playfully. He rolls his eyes and taps his stick on the ground. 

Nova jogs to half court, nabbing a ball as she goes. At the top of the crest she takes a minute to catch her breath and think over her next attack. 

Normally, Nova would use the combination of speed and height to bear down on the defense and force them to give, but Kevin has at least five inches and thirty pounds of muscle on her. That would be like slamming into a brick wall. 

She flicks through a few other plays in her head before settling in her favorite. 

The bait and switch. 

Nova scoops the ball and takes off at a sprint. She leads with her dominant hand and leads the striker right. Just as he is about to close in she whips her stick behind her back, bouncing the ball against the floor and spinning left. She spins left herself and catches the ball with her non dominant hand, al a Day style. She lines up and power shoots it for bottom left. The wall lights up a brilliant red. 

It's silent and then noise. 

“YOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” Matt screams. 

“What the actual fuck?” Dan says as she hands a smug Allison money. 

“I stan a goddess.” Nicky crows. 

“What? Can't keep up Day?” Neil yells across the court, giving the man a dirty smile. 

“I'll show you keeping up.” Kevin snarls as she stalks past Nova to pick up a ball. 

Nova has to bite her lip to keep from laughing when Neil sends her a saucy wink when the other striker's back is turned. 

It all becomes decidedly less funny when he slams her face first into the glass with a stick and footwork combo Nova has never seen before. She can see the goal light up red as she peels herself off the court floor. 

“You good?” He asks with a dark look in his eyes. Nova snarls and spits blood into the Chuck Bucket by the doors. 

Nova sends him the darkest glare and stalks over to center Court. 

Despite her annoyance at being checked into the board hard enough her grandkids will be feeling it, she's having the time of her life. There's very few people in the world who can say they have played against Kevin fucking Day in one on one and held their own. 

Only a short list of highly skilled people can say they've ever beat him. Thea Muldani, Jean Moreau, Jeremy Knox, Dan Wilds, Coach Wymack, and Neil Josten make up the scared list.. Nova would love to mark her name in that history but she's more than happy to take the losing side this time. 

She stands at center and takes a deep breath. Scooping the ball up she sets up a steady jog, weaving her way towards the goal. She deflects checks with well placed well elbows but ultimately loses the ball.

Kevin nabs it and wheels around to take off, Nova smacks the middle his stick with hers and he's forced to let go or get clocked in the face guard. Either way, the ball pops out and rolls slightly to left court. They both dive for it, throwing elbows and snarls, mixed with the jeering cacophony of their teammates behind the glass. 

Kevin shoves his weight behind his stick and leverages up and way with the ball. Unfortunately, she doesn't duck fast enough and the weighted end of his stick catches the face guard hard enough that she feels the blood start to pour from her nose immediately. She tries to go after him but she's seeing stars. 

She's blinking stupidly at the red light of the goal when a pair of concerned,icy blue eyes appears in front of her and eases off her helmet. 

“How many finger am I holding up?” Neil gestures towards his right hand. 

Her eyes look on three fingers. “Three.” 

Neil nods, concern easing slightly. He turns and punched Kevin, who is sitting next to him, in the sternum.

“Asshole. We need her healthy for the season.” 

“I know. I know.” 

Andrew ambles over, looking her over. He narrows his eyes in thought, questions asked silently when tilts his head. 

Nova rolls her eyes, which hurts like a bitch. “I'm completely fine. It was the weighted end of the racquet. Could have happened to anyone.” She tells them

“We should probably stop the bleeding of you don't want her to pass out.” Aaron drawls,not looking up from his phone.

The entire team stills and the rushes off to get supplies. Nova resists the urge to roll her eyes again and digs into her bag. She pulls out two tampons and love them up her nose. 

Aaron snorts. Lifting his head long enough to snap a picture of Nova. 

“Katelyn's gonna love this.” He snickers. Nova scowls and snatches his phone. She holds it high enough where he can't reach and flips the camera to a selfie. She angles it just enough where you can see her entire face, tampon filled nose and slowly blacking eyes, and Aaron's murderous expression. Nova sends it to the cheerleader and the group chat with caption “short people problems” before giving it back. 

“I hate you.” He snaps, stalking off to the locker room. 

The team returned with a myriad of crazy shit and took another twenty minutes before they would let her go to take a shower. Even as she's leaving, Dan and Neil are watching her with thoughtful and concerned faces.

Honestly, she's too tired to even begin to figure her captains’ weird behaviors. Nova makes that a future Nova problem and makes a beeline for Andrew's car. She's got five hours to take a nap with an ice pack on her face and IcyHot on her body before she has to see Coach Wymack and she plans on using all of them. 

Once safely inside her dorm, Nova gets herself all set up. The last thing she does is set her alarm forty minutes before practice and puts on some music to drown out the nonsense that's bound to happen in the halls. 

She's out before the first song event hits the second verse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Upon seeing Nova's black eyes and swollen nose* 
> 
> Wymack: Fuck happened to you? 
> 
> Nova: Lost a fight with an racquet Coach. 
> 
> Wymack: *snorts* "and I was born yesterday. Go see Abby because I know you haven't yet "
> 
> Wymack: I'm not paid enough to deal with this shit
> 
> Abby takes one look and benches her for the rest of afternoon. And that's the story if how weighted rackets got banned from scrimmages.


	4. Supervision Required

It's the last practice of the week, Dan and Neil are leading practice again. They learned from the last practice and kept Nova and Kevin away from each other as best they could. Neither striker is thrilled about this as Kevin wants to prove to himself that he hasn't lost his touch and Nova wants to beat him, at least once. 

The Fox captains keep them significantly busy running team drills for the first half of practice. They finally set up a scrimmage because Dan and Neil wanted to see how Nova works with their existing offensive line. They set up a scrimmage with two strikers and a dealer against three backliners and Andrew. 

Nova and Kevin, though highly unadvised, are up first. Dan serves the ball and the duo takes off, streaking up the court. Kevin dodges past Nicky, using up his allotted ten steps, firing a cannon in Nova's direction. 

She sprints past Aaron, catching the ball and using the wall to rebound it as she spins past Renee. She feels the shift in weight of the ball returning to the pocket and wastes no time taking the shot. Andrew is a blur but the ball manages to slip past him in the bottom right corner of the goal. 

“Fuck yeah Nova!” Matt cheers, clacking sticks with her as he heads off the court. 

Nicky swaps over to her side and gives her a grin.

“Try not to make me look too slow.” 

“No promises.” Nova snorts, gripping her stick tighter as she waits for the ball to be served.

They end up running the drill with Kevin twice more, swapping out different players to act as backliners. 

Nova finally gets the chance to play on the right side when Neil makes his way into the court. While she loves playing with Kevin, he's too calculating for her. Neil is more instinctive and so much faster. When they are paired together, they throw thought out the court doors and just got with their guts. 

Allison serves the ball to Nova. She takes a quick glance up the court and throws it against the wall. The ball slams into the wall and spins across the court to Neil, sprinting up the far side. 

Nova smiles and she races for goal, absolutely pleased that the move she's been working on for the past four weeks has finally worked. She hears the ball slam into the wall again and darts past Dan, who is playing Defensive dealer, to catch the ball. She shakes off Dan and Matt, setting up her shot on goal. Instead of swinging forward she turns her back to the goal and flicks the ball back to Neil who is standing right behind her. 

“Orange!” Nova calls, dropping to the floor as Neil swings and buries the shot in the top left corner. Nova grins at Neil offers her a hand up. 

The duo turns to a silently flabbergasted team.

“What the fuck was that?” Aaron snaps, killing the silence. 

“That's a great way to get trampled.” Kevin bitches. 

The strikers shrug. 

“Calculated risk.” Nova tells him with a grin. “Life and limb for Exy remember?”

Allison snorts. “Ok edgelord.” 

Nicky and Renee both giggle. Allison sends an adoring smile at the blonde girl.

“I'm terrified and their on my team.” Matt says with a large grin. “The district won't know what hit them.”

Dan purses her lips and turns to her vice captain. “Can you do that in a game?“

Neil shrugs. “Don’t know. We just go with it.” 

Dan hums. Renee tilts her head, considering them. Allison, Matt, and Nicky narrow their eyes. They all share a look and nod. 

“Fifty says Darwin takes Josten.” Allison says, tapping her pink nails against her stick. 

“Double it. I've got Neil on this one.” Matt decides. 

“Really guys. It hasn't been twenty four….oh fuck it. I'm taking Darwin on account of height.” Dan sighs.

“Are they really betting on us?” Nova whispers to the vice captain. 

“It's a thing. Just get used to it.” Neil sighs, knowing exactly what's coming. 

“Ok. Josten, Darwin. Line up. Other end of the court and back. On my mark.” Dan says. 

 

Neil and Nova exchange a look. 

“Told ya.” The redhead snickers. 

“We should tell them we did this with Kevin already.” Nova whispers as they head for the line. 

Neil laughs. “No. When I win Matt will use the money to get alcohol for the team trip.”

“Except you're not winning.” Nova says, flippantly.

They eye each other with equally cocky grins. 

“Care to raise the stakes?” Nova asks him

“Listening.” 

“If I win, I get your TV choices for a month.” She tells him. Neil's mouth flattens, knowing they would be subject to Greek and Game of Thrones for a month. 

“And if I win, you're on Day Duty for a weekend of my choice.” He shoots her an evil grin

“Fuck you that's not even equal!” 

Neil shrugs. “Take it or leave it freshman.” 

“Fine. Deal.”

Nova growls and pulls her hand from her sweaty glove. They shake hands and settle into their own versions of the start position. At Dan's signal, they take off. Nova has a slight lead but Neil is hot on her heels. She grips her stick tightly in her right hand as she streaks towards the goal.

Her heart is pounding wildly and her thighs are screaming as she pushes herself to go a little faster when she sees a flash of red out of the corner of her eye. Looking at him, she can feel the exhilarated grin that matches her own. 

“Keep up Josten!” She says, slamming her left hand on the goal line and wheeling around to sprint back the way she came. 

She can see the team losing their minds as they race back towards them. 

“See you at the finish Darwin.” Neil shouts.

Nova growls and digs in, pouring everything she has into a dead sprint for the last 30 yards. It pays off when she just manages to beat Neil. 

Nova shouts with glee as she swings around the goal, letting herself slow down rather than slam into the court wall. Last time she did that, Kevin nearly had an aneurysm. 

She grins at Neil. “Looks like we are tied Josten.” 

Neil rolls his eyes and bounces over to an unimpressed Andrew and annoyed Kevin. 

“I knew you could do it! Pay up bitches!” the blonde shrieks, laughing wildly as she throws her arm around Nova's shoulders. 

“Alright. Alright. Alright. Practice is over.” Dan tells them.

 

There's a collective sigh of relief and the court empties in seconds. 

“Don't forget we are leaving tomorrow morning at 7am. You will get left behind.” 

“Promise?” Aaron and Andrew ask simultaneously, in the same monotone. 

They stare at each with illl concealed horror. 

“Freaky.” Nicky stage whispers. 

The twins level their death glare at him and Nicky snorts. 

“That stopped working when y'all were sixteen.” He tells them, turning in his heel and striding off of the court towards the showers. 

Matt whistles low. “Man's got balls.” 

“Andrew wouldn't hurt his cousin.” Renee reminds them serenely. 

Nova rolls her eyes. She likes Renee but sometimes she's too sweet and optimistic. She follows the girls off the court, looking back to ask Dan a question. She notices that the captains and Kevin are in some heated conversation at center court. Nova shrugs, she can ask later. She hurries off the court before Kevin notices she's still around and makes her run more drills.  
******************************************************

Back on the Court 

“The fuck was that Wilds?” He demands, sending a concerned look at a sweaty Neil. His boyfriend sends him a large grin behind the lip of the water bottle he's guzzling. 

“That was tame in comparison to everything the first bet of the year could have been on. Plus, that was all the proof I need to know that my plan will work.”

“Go on.” Kevin crosses his arms. 

Dan rolls her eyes, he looks so much like Wymack when he's pissy it's comical. It's one of the main reasons she can't take Wymack seriously anymore. Kevin starts to look more and more annoyed the longer she makes him wait. That makes her want to make him wait a bit longer but she knows he'll throw a fit and she's too tired for a Queen Day meltdown.

“We play with three strikers and the dealer will pull double time.” She tells him, watching his face as he works it over. 

Neil perks up and you can already hear the gears turning in his head. “I like it but we aren't playing a nine man squad anymore.” 

Dan shrugs, leading them off the court. 

“This will give the freshman more playing time against the smaller schools and more chance for rotation against USC and EA.” Neil thinka out loud. 

Dan nods and turns to unnaturally quiet Kevin. 

“Think about it. The only other person with that combo of height and speed is Moreau and Neil still beats him. Nova just proved she's even faster. We need a secret weapon if we have any hope of beating the Trojans this year.” She points out. 

Kevin clenches his jaw, mind turning over the possibilities. Now that the Foxes have proved you can play with a line of nine a lot of other teams are adopting the play style. 

This means the Foxes need to step up their game. He knows this and it would be nice to have a third striker up top, especially an unknown one. But he's hesitant to open up the defense like that. 

“You’ll have to make sure that the new recruits can keep up.” 

“That's what I have you for.” Dan tells him with a smile. 

“Alright. If, and I do mean if, the recruits can keep up we can try it against Temple.” 

Neil and Dan grin. This will be fun. Dan turns to walk into the women's locker room but a hand on her wrist stops her. 

She looks back and Kevin is awkwardly rubbing his neck. 

“Are you going to Dad's for dinner tonight?” 

Dan bites down on the squeal of delight at him calling Wymack “Dad”. She knows that's been a battle for them all summer. 

“I was planning on it. Are you?” She asks, turning slowly to face him. 

He nods. “Would you- uhh- like to to -um- walk over with me?” 

“Sure!! Pick me up at 6 and we can go.” 

He nods again and dives for the locker room door. She stays outside a minute to try to get her large smile under control. She also throws up a prayer of thanks to whomever is listening and made that happen.

She looks out over the darkened court and feels a shiver go down her spine. Her last season is going to be great.

******************************************************

After lunch, Nova is posted up with the last sixty pages the Song of Achilles. She has her toes tucked under a napping Kevin, bowl of carrots and peanut butter in her lap when most of the team starts to spill into the living room. Nova doesn't even move too engrossed with finishing the story to notice the squabbling of her teammates. 

She would have been happy to ignore them until Kevin rolled over and took the book out of her hands. 

“If I have to deal with them so do you.” He tells her, placing her bookmark in her spot ten pages from the end. 

She glares at him and digs her toes into his ribs as payback. He grabs her ankles and twists her off the couch. She lands face first into the orange beanbag. 

“Ugh. Fuck you, you prick.” She mutters into the cloth. 

“What was that?” Kevin asks, leaning over the couch and into her space.

She reaches behind her and flips him off. She can hear him scoff. 

“Get up. We have guests.” He scolds. 

“You're not the boss of me.” She snaps back and then buries her face into the surprisingly clean smelling cushion. Kevin squeaks highly offended and then….

“NEIL. Nova isn't participating in team shit.” 

Nova growls. How old is he? Jesus. 

She hears Neil walk into living room and feels as he flops down next to Kevin. She turns her face to look up at him. She gives him her best innocent smile. He isn't fooled since her and Kevin have been doing shit like this for weeks. 

“Kevin play nice.” Neil tells him. Nova brattily sticks her tongue out at Kevin, smug smirk firmly in place. Neil sighs heavily. 

“Nova. Act your age.” He flicks her ear, receiving a scowl in return. Kevin snickers next to him. He looks between them and rolls his eyes before focusing on the rest of the room. 

“What do you all want?” He asks the other Foxes. Nicky squeaks and quickly shoves his phone in his pocket as money quickly changes hands. 

“We figured we would watch Pirates of Caribbean before leaving tomorrow.” Matt shrugs, holding up a basket of movies.

“Ohh I haven't seen past the first one.” Nova muses. She blushes when she notices most of the team staring at her. 

“It's alright.” Renee starts, breaking the growing silence. “Neil probably hasn't seen any.” 

The man in question opens his mouth to argue but shrugs. “She's right.” 

“We are definitely watching them.” Allison says, grabbing the basket and moving towards the TV. 

Andrew wanders in with a carton of chocolate ice cream as Nicky heads into the kitchen to make popcorn and get drinks. Kevin slides off the smaller couch, sitting between Andrew's legs when he sits down next to Neil. Nova eyes his lap and then swings her legs over it.

“You would presume this is ok?” He says with a huff. 

Nova gives him a look. “You can check me into the glass, you can handle my legs on your lap.” 

Kevin rolls his eyes, accepting the bowl of popcorn and orange juice from Nicky. The man also hands Nova a can of blueberry soda and a pack of twizzlers, her favorites. She waits for Kevin to make a comment but he's busy leaning into Andrew's hand running through his hair. Nova hides a smile behind her can and looks at the TV. 

Dan kills the lights when she walks in, settling in Matt's lap as Renee hits start from her spot curled up with Allison. 

Nova sighs happily. Kevin nudges her and offers her the bowl. 

“I'll trade you popcorn for some twizzlers.” He whispers. 

Nova grins and takes a handful, popping it in her mouth. It's surprisingly sweet. The striker gives her a wicked smile and steals three of the red candies. He bites off each end and sticks them in his juice. Nova grins and does the same. They settle in to watch as the merry band of pirates almost get themselves killed, it's more fun than Nova would have thought.


	5. The Many Adventures of the PSU Foxes

The aquarium is the best thing that could have happened to her weekend. She's been dying to visit the Baltimore Aquarium for years but never had the time or person willing to take her. 

Now, her face is currently pressed up against the glass with Neil and Kevin on either side as they try to see all the sharks in the tank. She can hear faint giggling behind her but she pays it no mind when a hammerhead swims by, tail almost flicking the glass. 

“These are some big motherfuckers.” Nova whispers, watching another shark drift by. 

“That's what he said.” Nicky snickers. Nova groans and rolls her eyes, knocking her shoulders with his. 

“Your mind is always on the gutter.” 

“Not just my mind.” The man winks, dodging a half ass elbow to the ribs and dancing over to Allison to hang off the blonde's arm.

Nova giggles as she watches Allison and Nicky squabble like siblings before getting sucked into some cool exhibit around the corner. She smiles and turns back to the calming sight of the peaceful sharks. 

Matt ends up being the one to drag her from the shark tunnel to these open pools of water where they encourage you to pet the little stingrays and sponge creatures. 

“They are so slick.” Nova gushes, running her fingers over the multiple stingrays in the pool. 

“I know.” Matt giggles, running his own hand across a few of the sponges. 

“So…” the backliner starts, tracing small circles on the smallest stingray closest to them. The little marine creature follows the movement of his fingers lazily. 

“How are you settling in?” 

Nova shrugs. “I'm fine.” 

Matt groans and Allison's head magically pops up from out of fucking nowhere. 

“You're not allowed to say that word.” The blonde tells her, rapping her gently on the knuckles and disappearing the same way she came. 

“What kind of witchcraft?” Nova muses, looking at Matt all kinds of confuses. His explosive laughter startles the kids sitting next to them. The mom gives them a dirty look and moves her family farther away from them. 

“Sorry.” Matt calls after them and turns to Nova with a smile. “ Allison would love to hear you call her a witch and Neil used ‘Im fine’ so much last year that it's banned now.” 

“But I am.” She protests. 

Matt gives her a look. 

“Ok. It's a little much. You guys have known each other and the boundaries, I feel like I have to constantly be on my toes. It'd be nice to have some more new people besides me.” 

Matt nods. “I understand. If it makes you feel better, you're doing a great job. Andrew let's you near Kevin and Neil. Let's you hang all over them. That's huge.” 

“Do you think I'm annoying Kevin and Neil?” Nova questions, suddenly unsure. 

“What?” Matt whips his head to face her, taking her hand in his, “No. Andrew letting you get close is a great thing. Neil and Kevin will.let you know if and when it's too much.” 

“You sure?” 

Matt nods. Nova takes a deep breath and decides to believe him, trying not letting her anxiety take over. 

They spend another twenty minutes petting the different creatures and listening to the instructor talk about the different things in the tanks. Matt gets her a tiny stingray charm for her keys and receives a huge hug in return.

When they link up with the rest of the Foxes, they are all staring at an octopus absolutely decimating some fish. Andrew and Aaron look super invested while the rest of the Foxes look nauseous. 

Nova looks around for something for them to do that right hold their attention more than a messy octopus. She spots just the thing in the corner. 

She grabs Nicky's hand, the loudest and most bubbly of the group, and drags him over. 

“Think we can get everyone to fit?” She whispers conspiratorially. He gives her a sly grin and a wink. 

He hustles everyone up and plops shark fin hats, where he got them Nova isn't sure, on everyone. With Nova's help they manage to shove them all into the photo booth. 

“Fuck! Ow!!” Dan snaps

“Stop squirming.” Allison complains.

“I want to sit next to Neil.” Matt complains. 

“Kevin get your hand off my thigh.” Aaron growls. There's a yelp from Kevin. 

Neil pulls Nova down towards him but she loses her balance over too many limbs in the tiny booth. She falls and lands across Kevin, Andrew, and Neil's laps. Everyone tenses but Nova. 

The striker let's out a giggle and strikes a dramatic pose.

“Draw me like one of your French girls.” 

They entire booth loses it, giggling like idiots as the first flash of the photo goes off. The other pictures show eleven colleges kids laughing as Andrew tries to shove Kevin out of the booth,l the couples kissing while Nicky kisses a bright red Nova's cheek, and a remarkably good photo of the entire group of them all smiling.

The last photo becomes Wymack and Abby's holiday card that they send off to the faculty and friends much to the Foxes horror. 

*****************************************************  
The Foxes spend the rest of the day at the aquarium, dragging the uneducated kids(read Neil, Kevin and Nova) to all the different exhibits. The older Foxes got a kick out of Neil and Nova being transfixed with the dolphins and trying to get them to dance. 

Nicky even managed to snap a few sweet pictures of Andrew and Kevin holding hands while Neil has his nose pressed against the glass. 

By the time they pull into Allison's place in OCMD, they are all exhausted. Nova carefully places the shark hat, marine life book, and small dolphin plushie on the table next to the bed. Nova sends a few quick texts to Alex, really just the best photos of the day. Nova had been sending her snapchats all day but wanted to give her decent, saveable pictures. 

She knows the next time she sees the Court, she'll get so much shit. Nova shrugs and crawls in bed and is out before her head hits the pillow.

*****************************************************

“I ain't get no sleep cuz of y'all, y'all ain't get no sleep cuz of me.” Nicky screams, banging pots together and waking the entire house up. 

In her rush to investigate the noise, Nova rushed out it her silk scarf and a oversize t-shirt. 

“Nice hair.” Aaron smirks. 

Nova blushes and reached for her scarf but stops when Dan and Allison walk in, both wearing scarves and scowls. 

“Aaron shut up. It's too fucking early for your assholery.” Allison snaps at the one blonde, turning towards Nicky and the coffee pot. 

“And you…” she starts, narrowing her eyes at the noisemaker “if you wake me up like that I will put Nair in your conditioner.” 

“Nooo.” Nicky whines, covering his hair. 

Nova snorts and wanders over to the table. She flops into her chair and puts her head down. She feels something fall into the space next to her, a quick peak shows a half awake Kevin staring blankly at a steaming pan of cinnamon rolls. 

Nova smiles a little at Kevin's durag. She knows, after a summer with him, that he only wears it when he wants it too look nice but Andrew won't let him her up early to play with it. 

The man looks over at her and gives her a slight smile, plopping his head on her shoulder and knocking back out. 

“Guys. Come on. I made breakfast.” Nicky ushers everyone to the table. 

“Dig in.” 

Nova looks around and gingerly reaches for a cinnamon roll with a thick layer of icing. She moves too quickly because Kevin sits up with wide eyes. He must feel more awake because he opens his mouth to complain about the sugary breakfast but Neil shoves a fresh acai bowl towards him. He shuts his mouth and happily picks up a spoon. 

Rant avoided, Nova takes a huge bite. Warm sugar, soft dough, cinnamon and chocolate explode on her mouth. 

“Will you marry me?” She asks Nicky, playfully batting her eyelashes. 

Nicky giggles. “You'll have to fight Erik for that honor.” 

“These things might make it worth it.” She sends a saucy wink at him, pulling apart the pastry for another bite. 

It's too early for marriage proposals.” Matt groans, cradling a cup of coffee. 

Nova looks around the table to all the older Foxes all of them looking half dead, clinging to coffee cups like lifelines. 

“What's wrong with y'all?” Nova asks, wondering what she missed. 

The entire table share a glance. 

“Nothing.” Everyone says. 

To her left, Neil falls into a fit of giggles and Kevin turns a bright red. 

Oh.

Oh. 

OH…..

“Earplugs were invented for a reason.” She tells the group with a salacious smile. “However, you get used to the predictable shrieks eventually.” 

 

Kevin and Neil turn bright red as the rest of the Foxes cackle. 

“You must have a death wish.” Nicky pipes up.

Nova frowns. “No. I've catch Ne-” She's cut off from saying more with a hand over her mouth. 

“No.” Andrew tells her. She nods and licks Kevin's hand. 

“Gross.” 

Nova shrugs. The other Foxes look at each other and start handing money around. 

“Do I want to know?” She leans over, asking Andrew. The man slides an unimpressed look her way. 

“Didn’t think so.” Nova leans away, grabbing another pastry and ignoring Kevin's squawk of disapproval. 

Vacation is pretty sweet so far. 

******************************************************

 

The weather is hot and bright, perfect beach conditions. Andrew and Neil opted to not come with them, instead they wandered off down the boardwalk. A grinning Kevin following right behind them. 

Nova isn't too concerned because the rest of the Foxes keep her pretty entertained. Renee took her on a shell hunt; promising to get Allison to show her how to fasten some of the small, pretty ones in her hair. Nicky built her a sandcastle and named her the Princess since they already had a Queen. 

Aaron choked on his spit when he heard that. 

Matt and Katelynn, on the trip to keep Aaron happy, showed her how to skimboard. 

But her favorite part was the short sided game of Exy they managed to slap together. It was Dan, Renee and Nova vs Allison, Aaron, and Matt. Nicky and Katelynn decided to sit out to referee, take pictures, and cheer on their friends. 

The game was a mess because the sand kept shifting and there was no walls. There was also flagrant cheating and smack talk. She loved it. 

Nova flops back on the blanket, using her towel to squeeze some of the water out of her hair after Matt dumped her into the ocean after winning, really cheating, at beach Exy. She reaches into the cooler and pulls out a water and some grapes while leaning over Nicky's shoulder. He lifts his arm and she settles under it. 

The Foxes have figured out that this is her preferred method of sitting and have responded accordingly. Nicky tilts the phone to show her the picture they were currently editing. It's a picture of herself, mid jump stretching for the ball. It looks amazing but could used to be sharper along the edges and cleaned out in the background. 

“May I?” Nova gestures to the picture. They nod and hand it over. Nova starts to fiddle with the brightness and the layers while the other talked.

“It's too bad you don't have social media Nova. That would be a great post.” Nicky sighs dramatically. 

Nova looks up confused. “I do have social media.” 

“What?! I couldn't find you.” He gasps.

Nova rolls her eyes and tosses him her phone. 

“Have fun.” 

She can hear the two of them sigh at her, albeit depressing, social media. Her Instagram is aash up of the cars she had stolen to race, dark Exy shots, forbidding nature portraits. 

She halfway listens to their giggles as she relaxes in the sand and focuses on the picture before her. 

“These shots are really good Nova. You should study photography or something.” Nicky gushes, tapping her on the shoulder to draw her out of her trance. 

He's holding up her woodland fairy daydream inspired prom shoot she did for a senior in her district. 

“I’m considering it for a minor.” Nova says not looking up from here she's shading in the blue she wants to cover a small imperfection in the exposure.

“What are you studying?” Katelyn askes. 

“Pre-law and public relations.” 

She whistles impressed. 

“Aaron and I know a few people from the law program. We can introduce you.” 

“Yes please.” Nova agrees, turning the tablet to face them. “How do you think I know how to do this?”

“Woah.” Katelynn whispers. Pulling the picture toward her. “Wow, Nova.” 

“Can I fix your Instagram?” Nicky pleads. Nova thinks about it.

“I'll do you one better.” She pulls her phone back towards her and adds another account. She hands it back. 

“Have at it.” 

She stands, leaving them to it and challenges Matt to a one last game as she goes.


	6. BEACH DAY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunrises. First dates. And Kevin being Kevin

It's only 6:30 when Nova wakes up right as rain. She quietly pulls on some running clothes and slips out into the breezy mornings. 

She skips down the stairs and turns left, heading for the waterline. It's peaceful, once she makes it past the dry sand, and she enjoys playing chicken with the waves as they run up the sand. 

Nova jogs to the end of one of the piers and takes in the view. The sun is just starting to make it's rise into the sky, staining everything with bright orange and pink. She takes a deep breath of salty air and just feels calm wash over her. 

“Funny. I thought you'd be passed out still.” A voice quips behind her. 

Rolling her eyes, Nova turns to face her smirking vice captain. 

“Let's not confuse me with your boyfriend.” She quips back. 

The man snorts and settles next to her. 

“You guys got back at like 4 this morning.” 

Nova gives him a slight look disbelief. He shrugs. 

“Nicky's loud.” 

Nova groans, remembering how Nicky crashed into one of the absurd side tables placed all over the house like mines. 

“Doesn't explain why you're up now though.” Neil muses. 

Nova shrugs. “Sunrise.” 

He hums and says nothing. Nova takes his silence as acceptance and watches as the sun brings about a new day. Once the light has gotten bright enough, Neil directs them home; racing her for the right to first shower. 

He beats her by half a step.  


By the time she gets back down from her post run, the rest of the Foxes are up. Everyone but Andrew and Neil look a little worse for wear, clutching their cups of coffee like lifelines. 

“Can't take you junkies anywhere.” Andrew growls as she walks past. 

Nova snorts, grabbing one of Kevin's protein shakes and an apple from the fridge and collapsing into the chair across from him. 

“You're welcome to join us.” She offers, taking a large bite of her apple. 

Andrew sends her a glare when Kevin perks up enough to send the blonde a hopeful look. 

“No.” 

Kevin rolls his eyes and groans, putting his head back down on his arms. 

“You're loss.” Nova tells him flippantly, kicking back to enjoy the chaos of a hungover Fox brunch.  
******************************************************

It's midmorning by the time they get on the sand. Kevin, Neil, and Andrew elected to come with them, much to the surprise of the others.

They are all lounging around, catching some sun when a familiar voice cuts through the air.  
“Hey!! Nova!” 

Nova lifts her head and sees Liv and a few of her friends striding towards her. 

“Oh my God.” Kevin whispers. “Nova do you kn-” 

He's cut off by Neil placing a hand over his mouth, exchanging wide eyed glances with Allison because striding towards the Palmetto Foxes is Captain Olivia Sainte and the backline of the French Court. 

Nova pops up and gives Liv a hug. “Hi were we hard to find?” 

Liv looks down at her and smiles. “Non, cheri. Just had to look for some Exy racquets.” 

Nova smiles. “Awesome. Let me introduce everyone. This is Dan, Matt, Nicky, Aaron, Katelyn, Andrew, Neil, Kevin, Allison, and Renee. You know me obviously.” 

“Bonjour. These are my friends. Noelle, Jimmy, Max, and Lia.” 

Kevin chokes a little but Nova ignores him for now, promising to kick him in the shins later. 

“Great to meet you!” 

They get settled as Liv and Nova start talking, completely oblivious to the amused faces of the Foxes and the Court. 

“We were gonna play a couple rounds of beach exy. You can be on my team until you get the hang of it if you haven't played before.” Nova offers. 

Liv's friends all choke on laugher but a glare from the French girl shuts them up. 

“That is very sweet of you.” She says in a soft voice, tucking a hair behind Nova's ear. “Come tell me more about this Exy.” 

She pulls Nova up and down the beach, away from the group. Nova's pretty sure she hears hysterical giggles behind her but she's to busy trying to explain the greatest sport on Earth to the gorgeous girl next to her.  
******************************************************

“Alright I'm just going to say it.” Dan says after twenty minutes of amusement between the teams. 

“Your captain is an idiot.” 

Lia snorts. “Oui. Pot. Kettle.” She points at Nova. 

“Although, I can't believe she didn't recognize Minyard here. She's been dying to shoot around with him since your last game.” 

Andrew glares at the French goalie and then at Kevin's hopeful stare.

“Don't get any ideas.” 

“In all seriousness, I don't like this.” Allison cuts in “I know her rep. I don't want the kit messed with.” 

All the Court players but the backliner Jimmy Odette look offended. 

Jimmy shrugs. 

“Ne soyez pas des abrutis.” He snaps at his team. 

“ We all know what Liv is like.” He tells his teammates with a glare. “However, this is the first time I've seen her do that.” 

Their gaze falls on the two in question. They are about waist high in the water. Splashing each other and laughing. The French players mutter to themselves in annoyed French. 

Neil and Kevin both frown at the name Nicole is thrown around. When no more information comes about her, they let it go. 

Neil turns his attention back to the ocean and smiles as he watches Nova laugh. He has a horrible feeling about this and judging by the looks on most of the Foxes’ faces so do they but if Nova's happy they will let it ride. For now. 

“ Si elle lui fait mal, vous nous verrez.” Neil tells the backliner. The entire team looks uncomfortably at Neil. Jimmy nods. 

After that it's like a spell has been broken and the the two teams start to mingle. 

Nova and Liv return to their friends arguing over who is going to be on what team. Nova flops down on Kevin, cutting off his argument. 

“Get off, you heathen. You're heavy.” 

“Says the man who wants to try to out bench press Andrew.” 

“Like you could do better.” He scoffs. 

“I already do. What's your weight again? 130?” 

“Fuck off.” 

“Oh that's right. It's 110.” She sends him an evil smirk and stands to rummage through the cooler. 

“You little…” He advances towards her and Nova takes off across the sand with a shriek, an amused Kevin right behind her. 

“Yeah. They can't be on the same team.” Max states. 

“No shit.” Aaron grouses. 

“They are cute together.” Noelle muses as the Foxes all howl. She receives a sharp elbow in her side from Liv. 

“They would kill each other. And that's if Nova was straight.” Nicky says, trying to quiet his giggles. 

Matt snorts, which sets them all off again. 

Kevin and Nova return out of breath and dripping wet with huge smile on their faces. 

“So did you decide the teams?”  


It came down to either not putting Kevin with Nova or arming him with the captain of a Court. The Foxes chose to former.

The teams were Dan, Allison, Jimmy, Kevin, Nova and surprisingly Andrew vs Liv, Matt, Neil, Noelle, Lia, and Aaron. Max offered to play referee while Nicky, Renee, and Katelynn took pictures and heckled their friends. 

“ Try to keep up.” Liv taunts Nova across the sand. 

Nova scoffs and spins her racquet.

“Bring it.” 

******************************************************

Wow. She's good.

Liv thinks as Nova streaks by her for like the fifth time. She dances around the backliners in a move she thought only certain American players could pull and takes the shot. Lia barely manages to save it and tosses it to Liz further up the beach. 

Liz pases it the the Josten kid, narrowly avoiding a check from Day, and sprints up the sand. Her calves burn from trying to run on the shifting surface. She's about to receive the ball back from Matt when she feels a sharp hip knock into her side and goes down. 

“Pitié.” She groans out of breath and watches Nova intercept the ball and pass it to her teammate. She spins around and offers Liv a hand up. 

“Merci.” 

With her hand still in her grasp, Liv pulls Nova against her chest and leans down slightly to almost kiss her. 

“Keep eye on the ball.” She whispers against her full lips and then sprints back in the melee. 

The muffled cursing was music to her vicious exy heart.

Liv doesn't even think about a fiancee and a dying relationship she left in Paris  
******************************************************

Playing with Liz and her friends is exhilarating. They are wicked fast and Nova is happy to have spent the past six weeks training with Kevin. 

Speaking of Kevin, she looks over and sees him grinning down at an equally pleased Neil and Andrew. The skin on his shoulders are starting to turn a bit red so she digs into her bag and pulls out sunscreen. 

“Kev. Catch.” She lobs it at him. It smacks neatly into the pocket of his racquet. He looks at the bottle incredulously. 

“Put it on. I don't want to hear you bitching about being sore.”

Nicky chokes as Matt howls with laughter. Kevin and Neil turn bright red and Andrew sends her a dark glare. She holds her hands up, placating. 

“That's not what I meant and yall know it. Get ya minds out of the gutter.” 

Matt's pats her on the shoulder as they reset. It's worth the balls Andrew aims too high for her to reach without jumping to see her teammates smile at her unintentional innuendo. 

 

If playing against Liv is exhilarating then the almost kiss…

Nova feels hot when she thinks about the dirty,I underhanded, incredibly hot way she was played to leave her position. Her brain had short circuited immediately when she's pulled into her chest and it went completely offline when her lips almost brushed Liv's.

It makes her want the real thing intensely. 

 

Despite their best efforts, Nova and her team loses. It's still a blast and they all collapse on the blankets in an exhausted heap. 

“I got conned. I got hustled. You knew how to play.” Nova accuses, slapping Liz's hand lightly. 

The French girl chuckles. “Let me take you to dinner tonight, ma belle. As a apology for kicking your ass.” 

“Bullshit. We lost by one.” 

The Foxes snort behind her but she ignores them, turning to narrow her eyes at the other woman. 

“Fine. Fine. Let me treat you dinner as worthy competition.”

She pretends to think about it.

“Oui.” Nova says with a wink. “Pick me up at seven.”

“Oui.” Liv agrees with a smirk. She raises Nova's hand kisses it with a sly wink and takes off after her friends. Nova lays back on blanket and smiles stupidly at the blue sky. 

“Well I, for one, am jealous. How did you manage to find all that?” Nicky laughs. “How am I the only single one and I'm in a relationship?” 

“No one cares Nicky.” Aaron growls from his towel. 

“Hurtful.” Nicky huffs. “Seriously though what are you wearing tonight?” 

Nova opens her mouth but Kevin cuts her off. 

“Nothing. She isn't going.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“You aren't going.” Kevin tells her with a shrug. 

“Yes I am.” 

“No you are not.” 

“Why not? She's nice. You all met her.” Nova points out. 

Kevin shrugs again. Completely unconcerned. 

“You're still not going.” 

“One. I'm going. Two. You can't tell me what to do.” She reminds him. 

She packs up her bag and stands. “ I’ll see you all later.” They watch as Nova stalks across the sand.

“Way to go.” Allison gripes, shoving her shades on her face. 

“Come on Kevin. It's just a date.” Matt sighs. 

He looks at Neil and Andrew. Neil shakes his head. “You can't do that Kev.” 

He stands, irritated because they can't seem to see this is a bad idea. “Fuck all of you. She's going to get hurt and you're all willing to watch.” 

He grabs his shades and stomps away. As the Foxes watch him go, Nicky whistles low. 

“Are we positive that they aren't siblings?”  
******************************************************

After a quick nap, Nova feels better. She feels kinda bad that she snapped on Kevin when he was just trying to help but he needs to realize she can make her own decisions. 

She's sitting in the edge of the bathtub, letting Allison fix her up for the night. Renee is painting her nails a Barbie pink that goes surprisingly well with the seafoam t shirt dress Allison laid out earlier. 

“Just be careful tonight, ok?” Dan says. Finishing up her fifteen minute lecture. 

“It's my first date, not my first day at war. I think I'll be fine. But thank you for being so worried. It's really nice.” 

Dan blinks at her and sighs.

“Go get dressed but watch the hair.” Allison tells her, letting her up the tub ledge. She shakes out her legs and walks quickly to her bedroom. 

“First fucking date.” Dan sighs. “This isn't going to be good is it?” Allison shakes her head.

Renee smiles at them. Touched at her lover and best friends concern over the youngest Fox but she has a feeling Nova is stronger than she looks. 

She tells them as much. “I hope your right, Renee.” Allison tells her. Renee kisses the hand she's holding and stands up. 

“Let's go downstairs and wait. I bet there's a few bets you can make before Nova comes downstairs.” 

Allison beams and Dan laughs. Renee always knows how to make her smile. 

Liv is nervous as she walks towards Allison Reynold’s beach house. When she met Nova and she didn't recognize her, Liv was delighted. Here was a girl who wouldn't know anything about her and she was free to act how pleased. No expectations. 

Then Allison Reynolds popped up and the dream shattered. After a quick Google search, it became apparent this girl was the newest addition to the Foxes lineup. 

The information alone almost made her not show up to the beach. But something about the girl had intrigued her and she rallied her hungover team to hit the sand. 

And Fuck. She's glad she did. They found them after three minutes of looking because apparently Exy wasn't a huge sport in America like it was in France. Their racquets are all standing up in the sand. Marking off the area as the Foxes. 

When Nova popped to stand, Liv almost bite through her tongue. She had on a all white bikini with high rise bottoms that left little to the imagination, bright red hair pulled through a white baseball cap. Reynolds sends her a smirk from behind Nova's shoulder.

“ Merde.” Jimmy mutters to himself. Liv gives him a look that screams mine. 

Liz knew that all the Foxes recognized them almost instantly but the beautiful girl in front of her was still clueless as hell. Liz decided to take it as a blessing before if all came crashing down.

Then they had played Exy and the college team actually gave them a run for their money. Lia and Liz exchanged a glance, knowing the international Exy scene would be a lot more fun in a year or so when all of them were playing. 

 

Yet, her favorite thing about the day was when she pulled Nova into a kiss. Her sweet, little sigh before she leaned up on her toes sent Liv's heart racing. Suddenly, she understood what her Papa was talking about loving her Maman from the first kiss. Kissing this gorgeous American was like falling out of the sky and waiting till the last second to pull the parachute. 

Exhilarating. Dangerous. Addictive. 

She needed more. 

Liv honestly didn't care about the ramifications of her fiancee, Nicole, back in France. Everyone on the team knew they were having some serious issues. Hence why they are in a tiny beach town in the US and not at Nicole's French Riviera mansion like last year. 

Liv pulls out her phone as it begins to ring. Speak of the devil. 

“Bonsoir Nicole.* 

“Olivia.” She purrs. 

Liv cringes. She hates her full name. 

“ Have you thought about my proposal?”

Liv clamps down the urge to scream. This again. Nicole's proposal is for Liv to give up Exy and start modeling with her. Liv can't give up Exy. Maybe if she was older but she's 20 and it's only her second year on the national team, her first as the youngest captain ever. She's got another ten years, barring an injury, before she has to seriously consider giving it up. 

“I'm not leaving Exy Nicole. We have been over this.” 

Nicole's purr is gone replaced with a cold fury. 

“Fine. When will you return home?”

Never if I can help it. She thinks, rolling her eyes. 

“October.” 

Nicole hums down the phone discontentedly and hangs up. 

Always a pleasure you bitch. 

Liv uses the last three blocks to shake off the poisonous thoughts Nicole always left behind. It didn't used to be this way. When they first met Liv has been 17 and was doing her first stint on the professional circuit in Paris. She had met Nicole, three years her senior, at a show during Paris Fashion Week. 

Everyone knew their relationship was toxic and Nicole was horrendously abusive but Liv couldn't see it. It wasn't until she has put the giant diamond on her finger did Liz really see what a nasty harpy her fiancee actually was. By then, she was being named Captain of the French Court and shipping out to play Exy for six months all over the world. She couldn't handle any more stress or bad publicity. 

Which is why this Nova thing is a bad idea. But Liv has never been the best decision maker. 

. She climbs the cement steps up to the veranda wrapped the house. She's about to knock when Minyard scares her out of her wits. 

He's got a knife pressed against her kidney. Bored look in his eyes. “I don't care but if you cause her stress which causes Neil stress you will speak to me.” 

Terrified, Liv nods. He withdraws the knife and disappears around the corner. 

Before she can catch her breath, the door opens and out steps Nova. Whatever breath Liv had fails her as she watches Nova step out of the house, laughing. 

“I'm leaving you, assholes” She yells through the opening and then slams the door shut. The door reopens and a hand, that Liv suspects belongs to Reyonlds, holds out a small shell shaped purse. 

The red head sighs and snatches it. “So unnecessary.” 

The hand flips her off and retreats, slamming the door shut again. 

When Nova finally turns to face her, Liv is struck dumb. She's beautiful and Liv knows she's fucked. 

“Looks like you've seen a ghost.” The girl says with a small giggle. 

Liv attempts to smile. “Something like that. Shall we go?”

“Yeah. Come on.” She grabs Liv's hand and drags her down the stairs towards the boardwalk. 

 

It's been the best date so far. They have pigged out on cheesy pizza, greasy fries, sweet ice cream, and raced to see who could eat their cotton candy the fastest. 

Now they are in the arcade trying to decimate each other. So far they are tied 2-2. Liv winning pinball and the car race while Nova took home the wins from air hockey and skee ball. They are looking for one last game to break the tie when Nova's eyes light up upon the perfect game. 

“Let's go test your footwork.” She drags her towards the dance machine. Nova swipes their two cards and sets it up. She picks a random song, putting them both on medium and grins at Liv. 

“You're so going down.” 

Liz grins at her. Taking in the way the lights reflects on her red hair and white flowers in it. She reaches out places a chaste kiss on her lips as the game finishes loading. 

“Jeu sur mon amour.” 

Despite getting a head start, Liv loses epically. She thought she was doing ok until she looked over to see Nova dancing around, hitting every step with a “perfect”. Her combo is 97 streak. 

They are attracted a small crowd and Liz decides to give em a show. For the next song, Liz finds the fastest thing she can. Flips Nova over to hard and presses start before she can say anything. 

Nova just shrugs and bounces on her toes.

“You're crazy.” Liz tells her with a laugh. The girl gives her a giant smile and a wink before focusing back on the screen. 

When the song starts she just follows along with what the arrows tell her. Letting her feet carry her around the metal square. Before long, she loses the pattern and starts to fail out. She sneaks a look at her partner and she's nothing but perfect scores. 

“Come on!! Don't fail out.” Nova taunts her, giggling as her dress spins in every direction.

Double fuck. 

The game ,unsurprisingly, declares Nova the winner ending their saga at 3-2. 

“I won.” Nova sings with a smile. 

“That you did.” 

“And what's my prize?” 

Liv pauses to think of something but comes up blank. 

“Anything you want.” She tells her.

There's an unreadable look on Nova's face before she pulls her in by the loops on her shorts, raises on her toes and kisses her. Liv tangles one hand in Nova's hair, the other around her waist and just hangs on for the wild ride. 

“EW.” A little voice groans from behind them. The part to see a group of pre teens staring at them. 

“Are you done with your Hallmark moment or no? Some of us want to play” One of the girls sasses, gesturing at the game. 

Nova snorts and settles back on her feet. 

“It's all yours.” She tells the kids, winking as she tangles her fingers with Liv’s and dragging her away. 

As they walk away, Liv hears a voice say 

“She just kissed a girl. I can't wait to do that when I'm older.” 

Liv smiles and squeezes the hand in hers, basking in the golden smile she gets in return. 

It's pretty sweet kid. It's pretty fucking sweet. She thinks, wishing that kid all the happiness in the world.

******************************************************

 

They end up sharing a funnel cake while sitting on top of the lifeguard stand after leaving the arcade and trading giggling kisses down the boardwalk. 

“What's your family like?” 

Nova takes a sip of the lemonade they got and contemplates the question. 

“Well. You met most of them.” 

Liv laughs. “I meant your other family. Like your parents and stuff.” 

Oh. Oh. It all comes crashing down. Normally people have families to talk about. Not shitty foster homes, sleepless nights, and moving from one place to another. 

“Nova? Nova?” 

“Yeah?” 

“You ok?” 

She nods. “Next question please.” 

Liv goes to argue but sighs. “Ok.” she wraps an arm around Nova's shoulders. “Ok.” 

Liv drops her off at the door at 10am the next day. After they had exhausted all of their questions for each other, they went back to Liv's place. 

All bets were off as they crossed the threshold for Liv's room. Kisses got hotter, clothes came off, and if someone next door banged on the wall, well that's just the way it goes sometimes. 

“I'll text you when I get back to Palmetto.” 

“I'll text you before that.” Liz assures her. She ducks down and steals another kiss. 

“Go. I can practically hear your team wanting to break down the door.” 

Nova gives her one last hug. “Bye.”

“ Au revoir chérie.” 

When she opens the door all the Foxes are trying to look innocent but Nicky is contorted in a weird shape and Matt has his magazine upside down. All the luggage is piles by the door ready to head back to PSU. 

She snorts. “I’m back. Let me change and we can get going.” 

“No. No. You can stay right in that.” Matt says.  
Nova looks down at the oversized French Court jersey that Liv gave her. It's meant to for Liv's taller frame so it hangs past her thighs. Covering the sleep shorts she borrowed as well. 

“Ok.”

Nova pulls her hair up into a bun and stuff the clothes from the night before in the duffle bag.  
She hears someone gasp and looks up to see a lot of money end up in Allison's hands. They were always betting on something. 

“You guys are fucking weird. Can we go?” 

She ends up riding in Allison's car again. Something about emotional support. 

She's scrolling through pictures from the weekend, bobbing along to the music blasting through the speakers, and sharing a extra large bag of pull apart Twizzlers when her phone chirps. 

She slides it out and opens up Instagram. She has new follower: @saintexy. She clicks on it and nearly chokes on her candy. 

She gaze flicks between everyone in the car, the profile, and the jersey she's currently wearing. 

“Holy. Shit. I just fucked the captain of the French Court.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all have enjoyed the rework so far. Working pretty hard to make sure it reads well with more dialogue and such!!!
> 
> I know its probably vastly annoying, because I'm sure you all comment on tons of other works, but if you could PRETTY PLEASE drop a comment below that would be awesome! 
> 
> Let me know I'm not screaming out into the void and such!! 
> 
> Also, let me know what you think I should do with Liv and Nova. Especially those of you that read this the first go around....
> 
> Looking forward to seeing all your lovely and no doubt hilarious comments! 
> 
> Come say hello on Tumblr @thekristastrophe


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